Waterwoman Knits

End of Year Thoughts

I knit probably more than I ever have before in a single year. That’s something. Stitches of yarn soothe a troubled mind in a troubling world.

Personally, the month of December has been rough. My dad passed away on my birthday, after several weeks on hospice at home. Family holidays were unlike any other, and it will take a while to process this loss and figure out how best to support my mom who was his partner for 60 years.

I feel a tremendous peace about my relationship with him, our last conversations, and the fact he is no longer in a painful body. I’ve been processing grief over the past two years leading to his leaving. It’s definitely a blessing to have a long window of time to really say goodbye to someone so important in your life. I was able to interview him about his life for two hours in 2023, and then transcribed the interview, as that is what I do professionally.

Knowing how healing time with Earth and elements are for the human psyche, I signed up for a part-time job outdoors pruning bushes for a local blueberry farm through January and February. Those who signed up were encouraged to bring earbuds to listen to something for the boredom, but since my job is 100% headphones and capturing speech, I want the opposite. I want to be blasted by the cold elements focused on a single task in rain, wind, sun and mud to process loss involved in being human. Little me on my dad’s back is my current phone wallpaper. It brings me joy each time I look at it.

Extreme Knitting Calendar

I can’t recommend this enough to any knitter. I enjoyed 2025 and now 2026 calendars. Proceeds go to nonprofits in the creator’s community. I purchased one as a gift and one for myself and then was gifted another one by an anonymous Secret Santa. I think I have figured out which kind soul in my local knit group is the mystery source. My goal is next year to submit a photograph of myself knitting in somewhere gorgeous since I am surrounded by abundant natural beauty, even if I did nothing extreme to get there.

Nature’s Beauty This Week and Little Me 58 Years Ago

Looking through my earliest photos, most of which my dad took of me, I realized I came into the world connecting to the natural world equally or more than the human. I remember listening to trees, and one of the photos shows me doing just that. Carry on, tree listeners!